Since fracking restarted the Blackpool region has (according to the local media) experienced a dozen small earthquakes.
https://earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/earthquakes/recent_uk_events.html
Cuadrilla the fracking company said: “As we have said before, local residents should be reassured that the monitoring systems in place are working as they should.”
More: https://www.lep.co.uk/news/another-small-earthquake-recorded-in-blackpool-1-9414512?fbcli
Nevertheless, campaigners remained unimpressed. The Frack Free Lancashire group said: “Seismicity must be monitored closely around the clock if [fracking] is allowed to continue in spite of the cluster of tremors we have seen.”
Fracking involves injecting high-pressure fluid underground to blast open rocks and release the natural gas trapped inside. Small quakes have also been shown to sometimes result in larger seismic activity.
As the rocks crack, they produce small earthquakes that were once typically too small to be detected. Experts warn that small tremors caused by hydraulic fracturing of natural gas near the surface could be early signs of the stressful conditions deep underground that could destabilise faults and trigger larger earthquakes.
Further afield, Professor William Ellsworth (geophysics expert at Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences) previously warned:
“When they (small quakes) happen, they should be viewed as cautionary indicators of underground conditions that could lead to larger earthquakes.”
Emeritus professor of geophysics at the University of Glasgow, David Smythe, also warned that…
“There may be trouble ahead if work continues. Recent research by Stanford University shows that these tiny tremors can be indicators of bigger quakes to follow – like canaries in a coal mine. The problem for Cuadrilla is that if it carries on regardless, bigger earthquakes may well be triggered. Cuadrilla’s only safe option is to cease fracking.”
Tory MPs’ objections to fracking issues
Furthermore, two of Lancashire Tory MPs have objected to Cuadrilla’s revised plans for fracking at Roseacre Wood.
http://frackfreelancashire.org.uk/cms/?p=1707
Lancashire communities rally against Cuadrilla’s fracking
Property damage claims?
Some people are also suggesting that if and when cracks in houses start to occur and potential property damage claims are made for compensation the situation may change very quickly. Will the increasingly unpopular frackers be subject to class action lawsuits, if and when property damage occurs?
Pat Regan ©
http://pat-regan.blogspot.com/
See also:
https://www.otsnews.co.uk/blackpool-fracking-earthquakes-not/
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